TONE OF VOICE

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 Dictionary entry overview: What does tone of voice mean? 

• TONE OF VOICE (noun)
  The noun TONE OF VOICE has 1 sense:

1. the quality of a person's voice

  Familiarity information: TONE OF VOICE used as a noun is very rare.

 Dictionary entry details 

• TONE OF VOICE (noun)

Sense 1

Meaning:

The quality of a person's voice

Classified under:

Nouns denoting communicative processes and contents

Synonyms:

tone; tone of voice

Context example:

he spoke in a nervous tone of voice

Hypernyms ("tone of voice" is a kind of...):

delivery; manner of speaking; speech (your characteristic style or manner of expressing yourself orally)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "tone of voice"):

note (a tone of voice that shows what the speaker is feeling)

rotundity; roundness (the fullness of a tone of voice)

undertone (a quiet or hushed tone of voice)

 Context examples 

Jane, I ever like your tone of voice: it still renews hope, it sounds so truthful.

(Jane Eyre, by Charlotte Brontë)

“—And beneath him too,” pursued Uriah, very distinctly, and in a meditative tone of voice, as he continued to scrape his chin.

(David Copperfield, by Charles Dickens)

Sighs and fine words had been given in abundance; but she could hardly devise any set of expressions, or fancy any tone of voice, less allied with real love.

(Emma, by Jane Austen)

Mrs Musgrove was giving Mrs Croft the history of her eldest daughter's engagement, and just in that inconvenient tone of voice which was perfectly audible while it pretended to be a whisper.

(Persuasion, by Jane Austen)

The general pause which succeeded his short disquisition on the state of the nation was put an end to by Catherine, who, in rather a solemn tone of voice, uttered these words, I have heard that something very shocking indeed will soon come out in London.

(Northanger Abbey, by Jane Austen)

Miss Crawford, a little suspicious and resentful of a certain tone of voice, and a certain half-look attending the last expression of his hope, made a hasty finish of her dealings with William Price; and securing his knave at an exorbitant rate, exclaimed, There, I will stake my last like a woman of spirit.

(Mansfield Park, by Jane Austen)

He spoke to him as before, over his shoulder and in the same tone of voice, rather high, so that all the room might hear, but perfectly calm and steady: If you do not put that knife this instant in your pocket, I promise, upon my honour, you shall hang at the next assizes.

(Treasure Island, by Robert Louis Stevenson)

She had a strong impression of his having said, in a vext tone of voice, after Captain Wentworth's interference, You ought to have minded me, Walter; I told you not to teaze your aunt; and could comprehend his regretting that Captain Wentworth should do what he ought to have done himself.

(Persuasion, by Jane Austen)

Recalled by his request, preferred in quite another tone of voice, I did the honours of the shaving-pot; but I did them with an unsteadiness of hand, a sudden sense of being no match for him, and a perplexed suspicious anxiety as to what he might be going to say next, which I felt could not escape his observation.

(David Copperfield, by Charles Dickens)